i hope i never lose you (hope it never ends)
by softiesharpie
Summary: Sara is able to hold herself together after crisis until Ava gets injured during a mission.


It was supposed to be an easy mission.

The Legends traveled to the 1940s to find one of their "encores". The mission had gone as planned, they caught the man and almost got away with him when his backup men came in with guns.

The team had to act fast, Ray knocking out of the men before tackling another one to the ground and punching him.

Nate stood in front of Behrad to shield him from the bullets as he shifted into his steel form.

Sara fought with her bo staff, Behrad with his totem, Mick with his heat gun, and Ava with her simple gun.

Everything was fine until Ava had got sidetracked watching Sara fight one of the men and didn't see someone creeping up behind her.

"Ava look out!" Ava heard Nate call out to her. She turned around just in time to see a man point his gun at her.

She tried to move away, but wasn't fast enough and ended up getting grazed in the side by his bullet.

She gasped in pain, immediately putting her hand on her side to cover the wound.

Nate ran over and quickly knocked the man out before approaching Ava. "Shit, you're really bleeding." He said, watching her hand become red with blood.

"I'm fine." Ava winced. "Go help Sara." She nodded towards the captain, who was alone facing four armed men.

Nate looked hesitant.

"Go!" Ava ordered and he nodded, quickly going over to fight alongside Sara.

Ava shot another guy and groaned as she started feeling a little weak.

She didn't want to give up.

Without her, the team would be more outnumbered than they already were. She'd handled worse than this, she just needed to keep fighting.

She could feel her heart pounding rapidly in her chest as she took in a deep breath, trying to calm down, before she started fighting again.

They defeated the men rather quickly, though their fugitive managed to escape.

Seeing that they were no longer in danger, Ava dropped to her knees, unable to stand anymore. She felt a bit lightheaded now.

Sara frowned and looked at her. "Ava?" She quickly ran over to her and kneeled down beside her.

Her heart dropped when she saw the blood. "Shit! Why didn't you tell me you were shot?" She said, quickly tearing off a piece of her dress to hold it against Ava's wound.

She felt sick as she felt Ava's blood on her hands, seeing Ava paling and getting weaker.

"It's... it's just a graze." Ava tried to reassure her. She'd really had worse injuries than this fighting alongside the Legends. She didn't think this was that bad.

Sara's jaw clenched. "You were shot! Damnit, Ava." She put more pressure on the wound, making Ava wince.

"We should get her back to the ship." Ray said. He could tell that Sara was getting upset, and there could be more men coming in for backup at any moment. They had to act quickly.

Ava put her hand over Sara's on her wound. "Ray's right. We-," she inhaled sharply at the pain, "we have to leave."

Sara stayed silent, tears filling her eyes as she watched the blood- Ava's blood- drip down her hands. Tightness begun to build in her chest, her hands trembling as her breathing became shaky.

All of her instincts that told her she needed to take Ava to the medbay were overpowered by the intense panic Sara felt.

"Sara?" Nate put her hand on her shoulder. "We have to go. Now." He said and frowned when he noticed that she wasn't responding.

Sara choked out a sob, gaze fixed on her hands.

"Shit, guys. We gotta go." Behrad said when he heard backup start to head over to them.

Ava blinked blearily, trying her best to focus on what was going on. "Someone... someone needs to carry me back to the ship." She said.

She felt someone, presumably Mick, pick her up. She closed her eyes, and leaned her head against him, feeling weaker due to the blood loss.

"A-Ava." Sara whimpered as she watched Mick carry her girlfriend through onto the ship.

"Cap, we gotta go." Behrad helped Sara up and quickly brought her to the Waverider with the rest of the team.

They made it to the medbay and found Ava already hooked up to Gideon, who was scanning her injuries.

"What the hell were you t-thinking?!" Sara snapped as she walked over to the bed where Ava was laying.

"N-not telling me you got sh-shot? You could've- you..." Sara shook her head and looked up at the ceiling, tears falling down her cheeks.

She was running on adrenaline. She couldn't remember getting on the ship or walking to the medbay.

All she could think of was the blood she could still see and smell on her hands and how pale Ava was.

"Sara," Ava whispered and opened her eyes. "Babe, look at me." She waited until she had Sara's attention.

"It's just a graze... I've had worse. Gideon will heal me like she always does, and I'll be okay." Ava tried to calm Sara down.

"N-no!" Sara choked out, breathing coming out in harsh pants as she started getting more upset.

"Y-you could've d-died! You could've f-fucking died and it would've been my fault!" She cried.

Ava softened. "Honey, no." She frowned. "It's a graze... it's not serious. Gideon is healing me and I already feel much better."

The rest of the Legends seemed to understand that the two needed to be alone, so they quietly left the room.

Sara sniffed. "D-don't you g-get it? I could've lost you! Again!" She said, her words crumbling into more sobs.

Ava frowned. "Again?" She was confused.

Sara shook her head and cried as she thought of the months she'd spent in the Vanishing Point. The pain she felt when she realized that her team had died and there was nothing she could do about it.

The complete and utter emptiness that settled within her as months went by and the knowledge that she'd let her team die had set in.

Ava frowned. She didn't know why Sara was getting so upset. She couldn't remember a time she'd had a near-death experience while working with the Legends.

Sara's breathing started getting shakier, her skin paling as she sobbed. She couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything other than think of how she lost the team and how she could've lost Ava today.

How she could've lost Ava again.

"Sara." Ava frowned, worried. "I'm okay. Look, babe. The wound is gone." She lifted her shirt up to show her.

The wound was indeed gone with a tiny, almost unnoticeable scar in its place. "It's gone. I'm okay." She repeated.

Sara broke at the words, falling into Ava's open arms. She sobbed into her girlfriends neck, body trembling as she felt Ava's arms wrap around her.

"I'm okay, babe." Ava whispered and kissed her temple. "I'm okay."

She held Sara and rested one of her hands at the base of the captain's neck. She felt Sara almost instantly relax into her, the simple touch calming her like it always did.

"A-Ava." Sara cried against her, finally letting out all of the pain she'd felt since she got back from the crisis.

"I'm right here, love." Ava whispered softly.

She felt Sara's shaky hand press on her chest over her heart, wanting to feel the steady beat of it. Once she did, Sara seemed to calm down a bit, her sobs eventually slowing into occasional sniffles.

Ava continued to hold Sara until she calmed down, trying to hide her own worry. It'd been awhile since she'd seen Sara break down like that. She was concerned, still not knowing quite what had caused it.

"B-before... before we reset the universe, we were trapped in the Vanishing Point for months. I was in there for m-months knowing that I'd failed you guys... that you all were dead because of me." Sara quietly explained. She felt Ava's heart beat slightly quicken beneath her hand at her words.

Ava's heart dropped.

Sure, she knew about the multiple Earths dying, but she hadn't thought about how it meant that she and the Legends had died in the previous timeline.

"W-when I saw you were shot I... I f-freaked out b-because I can't lose you, Ava. Not again." Sara finished and sniffed, wiping away her tears before she put her hand back over Ava's heart.

Ava took in a deep breath as she thought over everything Sara had said.

"You won't lose me." She finally said.

"Y-you can't promise that." Sara argued.

"I know. But... I'm tougher than I look. Or have you forgotten that I've beaten you in a fight more than once?"

Sara seemed to lighten up a bit. "Are you sure about that? I'm pretty sure it was a draw." She joked with a tearful chuckle.

Ava smiled. "No... I think I won."

"Your memory's a little faulty then, babe. Because I remember clearly winning our last fight. And our first one, too, actually."

"Okay, our first fight was definitely a draw."

"A draw? You surrendered and asked for a break." Sara said, smiling now.

"I wouldn't call it a surrender," Ava chuckled, "but my point is... I'm pretty tough. I won't go down without a fight, especially not when I have so much to lose and people to live for."

She got a little more serious then. "I meant it when I said I wanted a life with you, Sara. And I'll do anything to make sure we can have it."

Sara sniffed. "Good." She sat up a little so she was facing Ava. "I will too. I promise." She whispered and cupped Ava's cheek.

Ava smiled softly. "I love you." She pulled Sara close so she could kiss her. She felt the last bit of tension in Sara's body melt away as they kissed.

"I love you too, Aves. So much." Sara whispered as she pulled away to look into her eyes. She bit her lip, looking guilty now. "Sorry for snapping at you earlier."

Ava shook her head. "Don't apologize, it's okay." She kissed Sara again. "You were scared, and understandably so. I get it."

She smiled and held her closer. "And... I can't imagine how much all of it hurt... what you went through in the crisis, but I want to be there for you. I want to help you get through this, Sara."

"I-I want that too." Sara whispered and sniffed, seeing nothing but love in Ava's eyes as she looked at her.

She let out a long sigh and laid back down, tiredness seeping in now that her adrenaline was fading.

Gideon dimmed the lights as Sara cuddled into Ava.

Ava kissed Sara's temple and settled into a comfortable position with the captain in her arms.

She heard Sara's breathing start to even out and could tell that she'd drifted off into a light sleep.

That was when she let herself relax, bringing her hand up to gently thread her fingers through Sara's hair, as she closed her eyes and eventually drifted off as well.

At some point, Nate had come in to check on them but when he saw them lost in each other, cuddling close on the small bed, he decided to leave and give them some more time alone. Besides, Behrad was already waiting for him in his room with his stash box, ready to get "lit", and Nate didn't want to miss that.


End file.
